You Can Soon Charge Your Phone on Ikea Furniture

If you've ever gotten tired of constantly looking for an outlet to charge your phone, you're in luck -- thanks to Ikea. People can leave their devices on Qi-supported pads built into Home Smart pieces, allowing them to charge wirelessly.

Ikea is doing this in conjunction with the Wireless Power Consortium, owner of the Qi technology, which has more than 200 partners, including some of the world's largest technology companies, such as HTC, Microsoft, Lenovo's Motorola Mobility unit, Samsung, Sony, Texas Instruments and Verizon.

"Ikea is delivering on its vision of making life at home better with this innovative, stylish and useful new collection that show consumers the beauty and simplicity of wireless charging," consortium Chairman Menno Treffers said in a statement. "We applaud Ikea for its unmatched insight and their unique passion for making wireless charging affordable and simple for consumers."

The tables, lamps and desks will be available in Europe and North America next month and will come to the rest of the world later.

Apple Isn't Part of the Plan

Although customers won't be able to directly charge Apple iPhones because Apple isn't part of the group, there are a number of iPhone cases that support the Qi standard. Consumers will be able to charge more than 80 mobile devices thanks to Qi, which has also been built into 15 models of cars and into more than 700 products.

"Our belief is that mobile phones are vital parts to people's lives at home and their desire to stay connected," said Bjorn Block, a technology manager at Ikea. "Qi addresses an unmet need to keep devices powered."